A relatively quiet month for Notre Dame’s football program was given quite a shake up today with Irish Sports Daily’s report that quarterback Gunner Kiel was set to transfer. The freshman who sat out the 2012 season and played on the scout team has yet to take a snap for the Irish.

The former blue-chip recruit, who enrolled early at Notre Dame after making a last minute decision to head to South Bend instead of play for LSU, won’t likely take part in spring practices, but should be expected to finish the spring semester in school, so he stays on track academically.

Kiel’s reported decision to leave, which hasn’t been confirmed by Notre Dame, is another twist in a decision making process that’s brought a lot of schools into play. Early in Kiel’s recruitment, he was committed to Indiana, where his brother was a quarterback. He verbally committed to the Irish before picking LSU, only to double-back to Notre Dame in the end.

From a football standpoint, you certainly can’t blame Kiel for leaving now. Incumbent Everett Golson is coming off a 12-1 season and has three years of eligibility remaining. The depth chart is filled with veterans Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix. Pushing for time with be newcomer Malik Zaire.

Kiel will likely have more than his share of options and isn’t likely to have many restrictions put on him by the coaching staff. He’ll also likely hear the sales pitch to stay in South Bend, where the quarterback job was set to be an open competition this spring, even with Golson’s impressive debut season. While he didn’t see the field, the staff was more than impressed with the freshman, who had impressive arm strength and better than expected speed and mobility.

Leaving Notre Dame will likely be bittersweet for Kiel, who spoke candidly at the media day in Miami about his unknown future in South Bend. With only one football to go around at the quarterback position, he clearly understood the numbers game of it all, but had this to say about his first season to CBS Sports’ Bruce Feldman.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a ton better since when I first arrived,” Kiel told Feldman. “I didn’t understand the terminology, the signals or coverages. I’ve made huge strides. I couldn’t have asked for better coaches and the quarterbacks have helped the most. We push each other to get better.

“I just have to be patient and strive to get better each day and realize that anything can happen. I hear that the talk a lot (that I’m gonna transfer) and people are going to have their opinions and are gonna talk, but at the end of the day, I gotta do what’s best for me and I’ve gotta get better.”

It appears what was best for Kiel is to leave South Bend, the second high profile recruit to exit during the Kelly era.

The loss of Aaron Lynch didn’t bring any ill effects to the team. And while Kiel’s departure will receive plenty of headlines and snide remarks to a good kid that had a tough time with the recruiting process, this won’t likely change any immediate plans for the Irish offense.

Spring hero? Tough to find a bigger one than C.J. Prosise. With numbers low in the backfield this spring, Notre Dame’s emerging slot receiver transitioned to running back—and immediately became an X factor in 2015.

For most of Romeo Okwara’s college career, the defender’s young age was mentioned when discussing the intriguing athlete’s upside. With ideal length, more than adequate athleticism and a skill set that fit in both Bob Diaco and Brian VanGorder’s defense, it was always a wait-and-see proposition for the North Carolina native, who simply needed a few years in Paul Longo’s weight room to catch up to his age.

We wrap up our offseason look at Notre Dame’s 2015 opponents with the Stanford Cardinal. The postseason could come down to a late-season showdown in Palo Alto with David Shaw’s team trying to rebound from a five-loss season.

After a redshirt season, Quenton Nelson is ready to play. Jumping to the head of the line at a crowded (and talented) position, Nelson is taking his five-star pedigree and bringing it to the starting lineup.

This spring, you’d have probably won some money if you had Sam Mustipher emerging as the No. 2 center. But with Matt Hegarty’s departure and some failed experiments before him, it was Mustipher who was backing up Nick Martin and snapping the ball to Everett Golson in a spring game played on Notre Dame’s practice field.

Notre Dame opens the season ranked No. 11 in the preseason USA Today Amway Coaches Poll. The Irish, who finished last season 8-5, return the majority of their starting lineup, providing some context for the bullish expectations. Only Gus Malzahn’s Auburn team is ranked higher among teams that finished with five losses in 2014.

Last year, we saw what a talented freshman linebacker in over his head looked like. His name was Nyles Morgan, and the blue-chip recruit personified the second-half defensive collapse that flushed the Irish season down the drain. Want the good part? Stick around, as Irish A-to-Z continues.

When Brian Kelly plucked offensive lineman John Montelus from his hometown of Everett, Massachusetts, the Irish looked to be adding another mauler to the interior of Harry Hiestand’s offensive line. And after two seasons of reshaping his body and learning the ropes, Montelus is in a competitive two-deep, still looking for a role in this offense.

It didn’t take long for Notre Dame’s coaching staff to know they wanted to offer Peter Mokwuah. After getting a glimpse of the big-bodied defensive tackle, Brian VanGorder and Brian Kelly went to Staten Island and left with a key piece to the depth chart.

We are a little more than a week away from the start of the 2015 football season. Notre Dame released their training camp schedule on Wednesday, highlighting the key dates leading up to the season opener against Texas.

Entering his third year in the program, offensive lineman Colin McGovern hasn’t found his way into the lineup. That’s the product of a depth chart filled with other talented options, as well as McGovern dealing with injuries and position switches as he looks to find his niche.

Last preseason, Mike McGlinchey was the odd-man out along the offensive line, losing out on the opportunity to be the team’s starting right tackle. Entering 2015, he’s one of the key X factors that’ll determine whether or not Harry Hiestand’s offensive line is one of the best in the country.

With Notre Dame’s defense falling apart, second-year player Jacob Matuska was thrown into the fire, earning playing time after the first (and most of the second) line of defense went down. Let’s check on the rising junior as Irish A-to-Z rolls on.

The first recruit to join the 2014 recruiting class, Greer Martini may have been envisioned as a 3-4 linebacker in Bob Diaco’s scheme, but he very quickly showed he could play anywhere the rebooted Irish defense needed him. Irish A-to-Z keeps on keepin’ on.

While discussing Notre Dame’s “rivals” usually turns into some type of screaming hot-take opportunity, it’s undeniable that the Irish’s date with Boston College in Fenway Park is a wonderful place to renew a “rivalry” that’s gotten a lot less regular.

In his first season without his brother on campus, Nick Martin looked to make a name for himself. But 2014 was a battle for Martin, not just to escape the shadows of his All-Pro brother, but to regain his health after a lingering knee injury and a multitude of other ailments made the entire season a grind.

Ready or not, Cole Luke was thrown into the deep end in 2014, forced into a starting role after KeiVarae Russell’s August suspension. Paired with Cody Riggs as the team’s field cornerback, Luke more than held his own as a sophomore starter, taking on one of the most challenging schedules in college football, with elite receivers testing the Irish secondary nearly every week.

Looking for a sledgehammer in an offense that sometimes gets branded finesse? Look no further than tight end Tyler Luatua. The big-bodied thumper may not look like the rest of the tight end depth chart, but certainly will come in handy as the Irish do their best to transform into a run-to-win team in 2015.